Goal 6

Serve as an academic gateway to the study of North Pacific and Circumpolar Northern land and seas

UAF’s international research cooperation and programmatic connections with circumpolar and north Pacific nations, including the Russian Far East, can have a tremendous impact on Alaska’s economic development. Expertise in arctic research and related policy development positions UAF to prepare others to study northern regions. UAF will coordinate efforts underway across campuses and draw on the expertise of faculty, staff and local leaders to enhance UAF’s ability to serve as an academic gateway to the northern part of the world by 2005, utilizing the following strategies:

1. Further develop bilateral and multilateral research and study exchange programs and the supporting infrastructure.
   1. Provide encouragement and incentives for outside students and researchers interested in or studying the North to undertake a portion of their program at UAF.
   2. Provide encouragement and incentives for UAF students and faculty to be involved in international exchanges.
   3. Improve procedures to facilitate articulation of and collaboration with graduate degree programs at other institutions.
2. Enhance UAF’s activities in international northern research.
   1. Designate specific offices to coordinate and communicate existing and future efforts to improve coordination between research institutes, especially the International Arctic Research Center, and other UAF academic programs.
   2. Become an international resource center for digital archiving and delivery of scholarly resources concerning the North.